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Mobility refers to mobile phones, gaming devices, tablets and more - although the greatest number of mobile devices are mobile phones. The "normal" mobile phone of yester-year (or pre-iPhone days) are being replaced by smart phones more and more.
Since the release of the iPad, Tablet PCs have also become a hit as a cool and handy mobile device - but this is not just because it was Apple, nor just because it looks cool. It is these realities combined with the "other" mobility features and functionalities (and available technology) that made it possible for the "revolution" in mobility to take off.
So, let's break down the "parts" of mobility and their capabilities/functionality;
- The Mobile Device - the actual physical hardware
- Features Bound by the OS?
- Portability; Number, SIM-card, OS, Apps, Back-end Services
- The Operating System (OS)
- Type; Proprietary (iPhone, Symbian, M$) or Open Source (Android)
- Cost to "Seller"; Owned, License Paid, Free
- The Applications
- Type; Proprietary-based (iPhone, M$) or Open Source (Android)
- Cost to "Seller"; Owned, License Paid, Free
- Price to Customer; Free or Paid
- Target; Business or Personal
- Killer Genres;
- VOIP - the end of the traditional call-fee model and base of traditional carriers
- Free Android VOIP app calling friends, family and colleagues for free or very cheap and completely by-passing the usual call fees charged by Carriers
- P2P Hotspots - also the beginning of the end of the traditional connection and data-packet-fee model and base of traditional carriers. This will be the true organic mobile network.
- Navigation - Google Car Navigation based on Goolge Maps
- Telematics - Automotive data delivered wirelessly to mobile devices and vise-versa
- Mail, Contacts & Calendar - the cornerstone of business and a growing "behind-the-scenes" part of personal users' lives (Meetings, Events, Invitations, etc)
- Location-based - similar to Telematics in the car - will be like personal navigators, advisors, recommendors, commentors and warners (and more) for all movements and activites for the average human. With a powerful brain at the server level, with instant suggestions (think Google Instant), then you should have no problems getting from point A to store D without passing B or buying things from C on the way....
- VOIP - the end of the traditional call-fee model and base of traditional carriers
- The Brand
- Carrier?
- Traditional: Mainly only this group had the brand
- New: Still will have, but not controllers anymore - their position as carriers is also becoming more and more diluted by the growing VOIP and P2P functions and services.
- Manufacturer?
- Traditional: Hardly if at all
- New: iPhone by Apple
- Service Provider?
- Traditional: Not much
- New: Will be a massive decider of winners and losers -> Bundling
- Carrier?
- The Back-end Services
- Carriers
- Traditional: Mobile Carrier
- New: Multi-connect portable WIFI? (WIMAX)
- Number Portability
- SIM-card Portability
- Manufacturers
- Traditional;
- None - always required Carriers' Services
- iPhone only exception - but it is considered "new" - see below
- New;
- Manufacturer is also Provider (iPhone; iTunes, Me, Apps, etc.)
- Manufacturer + Provider Partner (AU + Google, Softbank + Google)
- Manufacturer Alone? Nothing - just price wars
- Traditional;
- Service Providers
- Traditional;
- Personal; Games, Apps & Basic Web
- Business; Apps, Basic Secure/VPN, Web
- New;
- Personal; Rich; Games, Apps, Web, Content
- Business; Rich Apps, Secure VPN, Content
- Traditional;
- Carriers
So, what is the end-result of all of the above - and what are the 3 B's?
Brand, Bundling and Back-end Services
That is it. Very simple, yet it will be the only way for any mobile provider just to be in the battle - let alone have a chance to "win" the battle. There will only be 3 true winners in the mobile battles and they are;
- The most effective "Brand Bundlers"
- The best Back-end Service Provider(s)
- The end-users (Customers) - of course, as usual..
How can we say this?
- There is a clear movement towards free, open-source Operating Systems - namely, "Android"
- With the greatest volume of new mobile devices being manufactured for Android, manufacturers are just setting themselves up to compete with the same technology = little or no differentiation.
- There is a price war coming through which we will see;
- Companies pulling out
- M&A - Acquisitions of the weaker by the stronger
- Prices drop drastically
- There is a price war coming through which we will see;
- M$, Symbian and even iPhone will be squeezed out further. Now in the US, Android is at 42%, iPhone is about 44% and the remainder is the failing M$ and Symbian.
- With the greatest volume of new mobile devices being manufactured for Android, manufacturers are just setting themselves up to compete with the same technology = little or no differentiation.
- Manufacturers AND Carriers have been asleep until iPhone, so they have little or no Back-end Services to provide any true differentiation for this new and powerful world of mobility - they must partner with such providers = Bundling.
- Android Applications are portable - meaning they can be put on any mobile device with Android - meaning companies like M$ and Docomo who traditionally screwed everyone and trapped them on their proprietary platforms and pricing model - are now screwed themselves, because they;
- Don't have the apps in the new format themselves and must rely on other providers and developers - who will gravitate towards the most popular BRAND
- Can't control the apps, developers, pricing or delivery
- App developers can build their own brand and do not have to consider the traditional pains, such as;
- Multiple OS <- HUGE savings by building for only one or two OS
- Platform Entry Costs <- Not locked-down anymore
- Development License Fees <- Open Source proves again the dying model of the greedy proprietary monsters
- App developers can build their own brand and do not have to consider the traditional pains, such as;
The clearest example we can show some companies that were traditional monsters - the first two who surprisingly get it - and still have a lot to keep up, the latter being on-the-ball;
- NTT Docomo
- Traditional;
- Own proprietary OS (i-Mode)
- i-Mode-based Apps
- New Model;
- Android OS
- Android-based Apps
- Brand: Xperia
- Extra Brand Utilisation: Xperia SP-Mode - utilising their i-mode branding concept for (S)mart (P)hones. They should say Android-mode because that is all it is actually, but the average consumer might well be tricked into thinking Xperia is anything special. It is not - but the BRAND is the point here. Docomo realise this.
- They now allow i-mode email users to use their email on sp-mode - smart move. The reason they needed to do this was to compete with the AU-type models - and is reactive only.
- Bundling: Working with their own original developer partners and service providers to try and keep as much closed differentiation as possible to compete with "the rest of the world"
- Traditional;
- AU
- Traditional;
- Licensed OS
- Nothing special at all - poor back-end, not ready for new model and coming war
- New Model;
- Android OS
- Android-based Apps
- Skype: AU has an exclusive contract where all Japanese mobile registrations for Skype must go via the AU affiliation. This is a smart move by AU who are obviously too slow to create their own VOIP solution. At least it gets them in contact with the users and another "cosmetic" reason for using AU.
- Brand: AU
- Bundling: Partner with Google - all AU email are now provided on Gmail technology - but branded as AU service. This way, AU can now provide the best personal and business Email, Contacts and Calendar technology/service to their customers without re-inventing the wheel. It also means they are fully locked-into Google for their survival.
- Traditional;
- Softbank
- Traditional;
- Licensed OS - many flavours
- Also had Yahoo! Japan services integrated
- Partnered with M$ Exchange provider, GMO - to offer Business Email services (which was subsequently powered by Parallels Hosting Automation Platform)
- New Model;
- iPhone Licensee for Japan
- Android OS
- Both Android and iPhone-based Apps
- Brand: Softbank
- Bundling: Bundling its own Yahoo! services with every phone, but also smart enough to partner with M$ Exchange services, Apple Me services and Google services.
- Traditional;
Notice in the above that the manufacturer wasn't mentioned? This is because they really don't add so much differentiation - although some may claim to have a better display, or battery life, etc., which are real values, but not deal-breakers.
In our opinion, Softbank is the smartest player out there. Of course, they got the iPhone contract, putting them in first place for the Smart Phone customer holdings - beating out rival Docomo. But more than that, they also had Android phones coming through at the same time, knowing they could transfer the users onto the Anroid phones in the future when iPhone started to lose market share (Number and SIM-card portability). There is a greater profit margin on Android for them compared to iPhone - they don't have to pay so much for the licensing.
They also have the Yahoo! portal which is still number one in Japan - something that no other Carrier has and they don't stop there - they also partnered with Goolge for their Ads, Search and other Personal and Business Services - meaning they have all the bases covered. Brand, Bundling, Back-end Services. Unlike with iPhone due to Apple's highly restrictive conditions, they have complete freedom to up-sell apps, services and customise their Android-based products.
Finally, what is very clear is that the greatest, most powerful Back-end service(s) provider(s) will dominate many of the weakened Carriers to be their core bundle-providers and there will be a time when it is going to be a pure Brand game only - as the underlying services will have not so much differentiation either.
In a nut-shell, by releasing the free Android OS to allow Manufacturers and Carriers to "compete" with Apple's iPhone, Google enabled themselves to get access to billions of new users, be able to offer their platform of "brandable" personal and business services - and also create a future where they could control all the mobility, users, carriers and with portability - they may even just decide to migrate them all over to the Google brand...they also provide Google Voice...
Without all those great Google back-end services, most Carriers would seriously flounder.
Is there any hope or ideas out there?
Yes - Build a competing platform with Software Providers/Partners ASAP - for some, there is a slight chance still;
- Parallels for Virtualisation & Automation of the Infrastructure
- Also for managing Domains and Emails
- Open-Xchange for Email, Calendar and Contacts (Personal and Business)
- Funambol for Mobile Synchronisation
- VoipNow for VOIP
- Apps for all of the above
There is no other solution - and it may be done similarly (maybe using different software). Nonetheless, the above back-end bundle is the only way - and if not started now will be EXTREMELY difficult to catch up with the leader (Google). The above even allows Manufacturers to get in on the game and have a chance to be a complete Brand and Bundler of their OWN Back-end Services.